Kimi’s car at the Benz museum

Horns a’plenty

The Z and a GTR at LSR

Sharing a ride with Cuffy Crabbe

Phil and his mighty Ginetta

Daniel Martinez in the Corkscrew

I’ll give Elon Musk credit for this one since I had never heard it before he explained one of his Falcon 9 rocket malfunctions, but it is the PERFECT racing description for many an event experienced by drivers at the track.

Posted by Troy on Sunday, February 1, 2015 at 10:15 am Filed under Misc · Tagged

2014 was a great season for me, and I’m hoping for as much fun in 2015. This season my emphasis will be with the San Francisco Region SCCA in the Crossle, with a little bit of Vintage racing in the Datsun thrown in for good measure. I’ve rented some shop space from a local gearhead for the short term in order to have the room to get both cars prepped. The Datsun is getting the motor refreshed, and the Crossle is getting a thorough going over. First race will be in March, so I better get busy…

Another racing buddy of mine has come up with a great idea for a racing related business (geez, I gotta come up with an idea…). He is a professional artist who is making cutom racing posters featuring your own race car. Sounds like the perfect Christmas gift for that racer who already has everything. Again, I’m not affiliated with this business, just passing along another great idea.

Have you ever had your race car trailer stolen? Ever had it broken into? Worry about the neighborhood or storage lot it’s parked in? Well, a racing buddy of mine has a possible solution for your concerns. He helped start a company marketing a GPS tracking device that has gyro motion sensors in it that can send you live-time messages about the status of your trailer. I’m not affiliated with the product, just passing along a great idea.

This weekend I participated in my first San Francisco Region SCCA race with my Crossle Club Ford. I did a little SCCA racing in Arizona ten years ago, but since then it’s been mostly vintage racing. This was also my first race at Thunderhill Raceway Park, boy, what a great facility! Elevation changes, blind corners, off-camber corners, it took a couple days to figure this place out. The event was very well organized, I got to meet a lot of new racers, got to learn a new track, and even took home a pair of chequers. From sunrise to sunset, what a great way to finish off a fantastic 2014 race season.

This weekend’s VARA Big Bore Bash race at Willow Springs Raceway required a full wardrobe to be brought along. Friday’s Test day was warm and sunny, Saturday’s Qualifying was overcast and rainy, and Sunday’s Races were cold and windy. Over 140 racers braved the desert weather for the season’s finale, with several Class Championships still on the line. But American V8s were on the main stage this weekend with great competition in the Big Bore Challenge and Big Bore Pursuit races.

Thankfully I’ve finally solved most of the issues with my Datsun 710 B-Sedan race car. The rear axle leak that was soaking my rear brakes since I bought the car ended up not being in the seal or bearing area at all. The leak was actually a small crack in a bracket weld on the axle tube, and the gear oil was being sucked out of it and into the drum brakes through the cooling holes in the backing plate! A temporary patch with some Dirko sealing compound kept my rear brakes dry the rest of the weekend. Thanks to my racing buddy Phil Eglin of German Auto Service for helping me solve the mystery. Before the race weekend started, a little dyno time at Seven’s Only Racing allowed me to get a cam and carb combo dialed in, and some chassis set-up help from IEM Racing improved the handling. It was great to actually get in several rounds of trouble-free hard driving to start dialing in the brake balance, tire pressures, etc. The car ran near the front of the pack for most of the weekend, leaving me with improved hopes for 2015

From my friend Craig’s point of view (looks like he had more fun than me),

I went down to Laguna Seca Raceway today to cheer on a few friends racing at the SCCA Runoffs, the national championships of amateur racing. Joe Harlan qualified his Nissan 200SX to race in GTL, and Phil Mendelovitz qualified his Datsun Roadster to race in EP. The #79 Phil is racing is a former Runoff winner in 1987 and last raced at the 1989 Runoffs with it’s previous owner Bob Studdard. Here they are pitted in the Nissan paddock.